Poll: National Coalition and Centre to lead in European Parliamentary elections

An Yle poll predicts a strong showing for the Finns Party in next spring's European Parliament elections, but the National Coalition and the Centre parties are still expected to bag the most votes.

The poll also indicates that the Social Democrats and Greens will lose support.
Image: Yle Uutisgrafiikka

According to a Yle-commissioned poll from the market research firm Taloustutkimus, the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party are both well placed to receive the most votes in European Parliament elections next May.

The Finns Party is expected to bring in another election landslide, while the Social Democrat Party will see its favour fall. The Greens will see an even steeper decline in support, as will the Christian Democrats and the Swedish People's Party, while the Left Alliance can expect to see a slight rise in support.

These numbers indicate that the National Coalition Party and Centre Party would both secure three positions in the European Parliament, with a possible Finns Party surge to catch up and also gain three seats. If the poll proves accurate, the Greens would potentially lose their second European Parliament seat, the Christian Democrats would be forced to drop out all together and the Left Alliance would regain a seat.

Renewed interest in EU affairs

European Parliament elections are strongly swayed by charismatic candidates, and the parties are scrambling to find superstar representatives who are well known throughout the country to stand. Some vote-magnet candidates are still on the fence about whether or not they will run, but every effort is being made by party representatives to tempt them.

The poll also asked respondents about their voting habits. The euro crisis has inflated interest in the European Parliamentary elections and voters are now being offered several different agendas for moving forward in Europe. The election, scheduled to take place in May 2014, is looking to be an interesting one.